Fife dealership settles lemon law charges

If you buy a car in Washington, the state’s Lemon Law and other consumer laws protect you by requiring certain disclosures about the vehicle.

Seventy-nine customers who bought secondhand Hummers and Cadillac Escalades from a Fife dealership, McCann Motors, got some — but not all — of the disclosures required by law, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Buyers didn’t get a notice that the cars were reacquired by their manufacturer under California’s Lemon Law then resold in Washington, the office said.

On Friday the AG’s office reached a settlement with McCann Motors, in which the auto dealership agreed to notify the customers what happened and offer to work out a suitable resolution. The dealership did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to pay $12,000 in state attorneys’ fees and costs.

“The price of prestige probably was too high for some of these buyers who paid up to $50,000 for luxury cars, but may have negotiated differently had they received the required Lemon Law disclosures,” consumer protection division chief Doug Walsh said. The buyers signed paperwork that included a notice that the cars had been repurchased under a California Lemon buyback law, but they didn’t get special disclosures that the state contends would have made it more obvious that these cars could have potential problems, he added.

State law requires that a bright yellow flyer be placed in the window of the car that reads: “Lemon Law Resale Notice of Nonconformity or Serious Safety Defect” and that customers get documents telling them the title will include a statement that the vehicle was previously returned to the manufacturer and this may affect the vehicle’s future resale value. The state alleged that failure to provide those disclosures violated state laws.

UPDATE: I got this response from McCann Motors late Friday, and am posting some of it here:

McCann Motors has cooperated completely with the Washington State Attorney General regarding an issue involving the dealership’s sale of 79 General Motors buy back vehicles during the previous year. We are concerned that statements made in the news release may be misinterpreted to suggest that our customers were unaware of their vehicle’s history prior to purchase.

“There is nothing more important to our dealership than the trust we have built with our customers,” says McCann Motors President Melaine McCann. “We want to clarify that every customer who purchased one of these vehicles was fully informed of their vehicle’s history, and acknowledged their awareness in writing prior to purchase – a fact confirmed in the news release issued earlier today by the Attorney General.”

McCann Motors will continue to cooperate with the Washington State Attorney General to notify the vehicle buyers about what happened and work out a suitable resolution.